The Importance of Veteran’s Day
Veterans Day honors those who have served in the past, present, and future.
Veteran’s Day is a sacred day of reverence. Today we stop, remembering the veterans who have given their lives in service and sacrifice for our country.
What Veterans Day Means to Me
Especially today, I would like to thank the members of my biological family. They have served our country throughout the last century. As a small child, I remember sitting around tables of veterans in Marshallville, Ohio, at the VFW and in our home. My family members and their friends played cards and told stories about World War I, World War II, the Korean War, and the Vietnam War. I would sit mesmerized, staring into the eyes of these men as they laughed, struggled, and many times sat in silence with tears running down their faces. These powerful stories and my families and their friends formed our community and me.
World War I
Thank you to my grandfathers, John Vincent Clennan, (Army) and Budd Hall, (Army), who served in World War I.
World War II
Thank you to my uncles, Don Hall, (Marine Corps), Delbert Hall, (Navy), Joe Clennan, (Navy), and to my father Dale Hall, (Army) for your service in World War II.
Korean War
Thank you to my uncles, Delbert Hall, (Navy), John Clennan, Purple Heart recipient, (Army), Joe Clennan, (Navy), Jim Clennan, (Army), and Larry Clennan, (Navy), who served in the Korean War.
Vietnam War
Thank you to Jimmy Hall, (Army), Gary Gonter, (Army), and Danny Gonter, (Army), who served in the Vietnam War. Thank you to my brother for your service Jeffrey Hall, (Army), for your service to our country.
Honor and Sacrifice
On this day, I will sit in silence with reverence remembering my grandfather’s enumerable stories as they fought the Germans in Europe. They witnessed thousands of soldiers killed in the trenches and battlefields of Europe. There were the stories of Uncle Don being shot down in the Pacific two different times. The Japanese sank two different refueling ships Uncle Delbert was on that refueled the fighter jets. My uncles that served in Korea shared stories of the horrors of that war. One of my uncles still lives with excruciating daily pain with the shrapnel embedded in his body. And finally, my cousins, who served deep in the jungles and rice paddies of Vietnam and barely survived. Then having to overcome the nightmares of the number of Vietnamese they killed on the front lines of their original nightmare. They suffered the rest of their lives with these haunting memories.
To the men in my family, and to all the women and men who have served, and are serving, in our military today, I send love, light and healing (as do all the employees of Mindful Living Network). Thank you to the families that sacrifice every day of our lives to serve our country.
God Bless you and your families on this day and every day.